Fighter's Heart (OkixKai oneshot)
by TheSunRises
Summary: To her great surprise the early morning visitor was Oki, the Onia warrior that lived alone outside the village. What could he need? "Spirits of the earth, air and sea, Oki, what happened?" Kia gasped. Cute little fluff piece to to fill up some space while I work on my next big story.


Yawning, Kai pulled on her outer coat and her mask as she processed to the front door of her hut. The loud pounding had awoken her, she wondered who could be calling this early in the morning. To her great surprise the early morning visitor was Oki, the Onia warrior that lived alone outside the village. What could he need? It was very uncommon for him to come into the village for any reason anymore, he use to visit her and Lika a lot but since more and more demons had started appearing his visits had ceased. The kind-hearted Onia girl worried about him out there by himself, but she knew he enjoyed his solitude. She had always admired the young warrior; he was brave and strong and always kind to her and her sister. And it was possible that over the years, though she was hesitant to admit it, Kai had developed feelings for him. The young man was hunched over and gripping his left side. His arms were bruised and his clothes tattered and stained.

"Spirits of the earth, air and sea, Oki, what happened?" Kia gasped.

The battered navy and red Oina grunted "You think I could come inside? It's freezing out here."

True, the bone chilling wind was blowing snow drifts in the hut."Oh- Of course. Here." Kai scurried out the wounded man's way.

Oki limped inside with what seemed like great effort and lowered himself onto a mat in front of the fire. "Oki what happened?" the brown haired girl asked, shutting and fastening the door.

"Demons" he muttered; Kai hurried to grab her medical supplies. "There were a lot more than I original thought, they broke my sword…"

The Onia warrior looked a mess. His long red-navy hair was matted with snow. His long outer garment was torn and hanging from one shoulder. The left side of his blue tunic where he'd been clenching had a dark stain on it and the knees of his pants were torn through. His mask had a long scratch that ran from the top right to the bottom left. Kai sighed and seated herself in front of the young man.

"I would have gone back to my house but figured your place was closer"

It's no problem" Kai said "But, you're going to have to remove your shirt."

Oki shrugged off the remains of his coat and pulled the bloodied shirt over his head. The movement jostled his mask a bit; enough that Kai could see a deep cut that disappeared beneath the mask, but it wasn't the biggest of her concerns at the moment. His chest was covered in some minor cuts. His left side, where he had been holding, was sliced open.

Kai inhaled sharply. "Oki…"

He glanced down at the wound and reached to prod it with his finger tip "Is it that bad?"

She slapped his hand away from it. "Don't do that. Let me clean it first."

Oki shrugged. Kai grabbed the bottle disincentive of ointment, drenching a piece of cloth with the bitter-smelling stuff. She touched the saturated cloth to the wound lightly; the young man cringed away but made no sound.

"I'm sorry! Did that hurt?" she asked, quickly removing the cloth.

Oki shook his head. "No, it's fine, it's just… cold, that's all. Continue."

So Kai dabbed the wound with the ointment soaked cloth, cleaning out the cut. When she had finished she reached for the bandages. She wrapped them around his torso and secured them; now onto the others. The Oina girl quickly cleaned and dressed the other, more shallow cuts before turning her attention to the cut under his mask. Oki, who during the whole process had been staring absentmindedly into the fire, jumped when he felt Kai's delicate fingers attempt to pull his mask off. He jerked his face away from her, letting out a low growl.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I should have warned you."

"Why do you need to take it off?"

"There's a cut on your face, I just wanted to clean it."

The young man huffed "Fine…"

Cautiously Kai removed the mask from his face. It was the first time since they were children that she had seen his face. It wasn't that Oina aren't allowed to show their faces it's simply that they didn't. They usually only showed their faces to their families. The cut was a long, deep one that started at his temple and traveled down the side of his face ending at his chin. Kai gently dabbed at the wound while the young man stared off in the other direction, disgruntled and uneasy without his mask. It didn't take long for her to finish.

When she had Oki quickly slid his mask back on his face. "Thank you Kai and I'm sorry to have woken you." He made his way toward the door.

Kia bit down on her lip, debating on what to do. "Oki wait."

The navy haired man paused with his hand on the door.

She twisted her fingers together "You should stay here until its light. The monsters are more violent at night and you should really rest. And the storm was pretty bad when you got here so-"

"Alright" slowly he slinked back to the hearth from the door. "Alright, calm down"

She let out a silent sigh. "I'll make some tea then." Kai grabbed the necessary supplies, busying herself in front of the fire.

The two sat in silence aside from the crackling of the fire as the tea brewed. When it was finished Kai hand a cup to Oki before sitting herself down across from him with her own cup.

"How come you don't visit us like you used to Oki? Lika's starting to think you don't like her anymore." The young girl asked over the top of her cup.

The navy haired Oina shrugged staring into fire. "I have to fight off the demons."

"Why do you feel obligated too? It's not like anyone asked you to do it."

"I feel it's my duty, I want to protect those I care about like you and Lika." He said plainly.

She blinked, cheeks heating up beneath her mask at his answer. For a moment the two sat quietly, Kai twisting her fingers together as she fought the overwhelming desire to see his face again that washed over her. Her attempts to do so were futile.

With a spark of courage that she never thought she possessed the brown haired girl scooted closer to her oblivious companion while he continued to gaze into the flames. When he felt her gentle hands on the edges of his mask Oki turned his head, meeting her gaze with mild curiosity. It wasn't until her dainty yet calloused fingers slid beneath the mask that he began to feel flustered and a bit embarrassed. The young man sat stiffly, allowing Kai to push the mask off his face. She stared at his face intensely, soaking in his features and etching them into her memory, fearful that this may be the last time she ever saw them.

His skin was a warm, honey brown with a light dusting of pink on his cheeks. His eyes were brilliant ruby red and looking anywhere but at her, heavy dark navy eyebrows above them. His jaw was strong, his lips thin and his nose adorable.

Sweet smile hidden beneath her own mask, Kai slid Oki's down so that it covered his face once more. She then slid up her mask; just enough so that she could press her lips the forehead of the young man's mask.

"Kai?"

The Oina girl quickly removed herself from Oki, both of them turning to look in the direction that the sleepy voice had come from. Little Lika sat slouched over on her mat, rubbing sleep from her eyes. When she noticed Oki was there as well she squeaked cutely and grabbed her mask off the floor.

"Oki!" the little girl cried, rushing over to the young man and snuggling up in his lap, completely oblivious to the embarrassment lingering on him. "Oki! What are you doing here? You haven't visited in so long."

Oki chuckled and Kia laughed at the energetic girl.

"I've been busy protecting the village." He said, his usually stoic demeanor melting away, exposing the soft spot he had for the girl.

"But you're gonna visit more right?"

The young man's gaze flickered up to Kai when he answered. "I just might have to now."


End file.
